Navy commander cycling for heroes

A ROYAL Navy commander from Barnham is cycling from Brussels to Paris to raise money for Help For Heroes.

“For me as a member of the armed forces, it’s one of the many service charities that we try to support,” said Geoff Bewley, 55, of Ewens Gardens.

“For me personally, because I’ve met some people who have been injured in Afghanistan, what Help For Heroes do – specifically for rehabilitation – is just very emotive because these guys – having lost limbs and so forth – are predominantly very positive.”

Between June 2 and 6 he will take to the saddle to ride in the charity’s Big Battlefield Bike Ride, starting in Belgium, which follows the 335-mile route of the western front all the way into France.

“It’s in two week and I’m getting a bit nervous about the distance,” he said, adding he had done a 100-mile ride before.

A member of the Bognor Regis Cycling Club, he said he was a keen social cyclist, but this would be the longest distance he had ridden.